A Boy Becomes A Man

About the Book

In A Boy Becomes a Man, an unfortunate event, the loss of his father, sets a boy’s life into hardship. At the age of ten he has to quit school to start working as a goat herder. He, occasionally, trades jobs with his friend, Manuel, who is the pig herder. His many hair-raising experiences lead him to mature and grow beyond his age. A year later, he has to quit his job and say good-bye to his boss and to his friend because his family has to move to San Antonio, from where they plan to emigrate to the United States.

About the Author

I was born in San Antonio Matute, Jalisco, Mexico. My father died when I was seven years old. At the age of twelve and a half I came to the U. S. hoping to get a job. Instead, I ended up continuing my education, interrupted in Mexico due to the family's financial situation. I was fortunate enough to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Studies, a teaching credential and, much later, a Master's Degree in Bilingual, Multicultural Education at San Diego State University. Later, while I was holding a full-time job teaching, I took a correspondence course on children's literature, during which time I wrote four short stories. One of those stories is "A Boy Becomes a Man" in which the main character loses his father, quits school and finds a job as a goat herder. With his boss's permission, he and his friend, Manuel, the pig herder, occasionally switch jobs. Both as a goat herder and as a pig herder he has a few hair-raising experiences that demonstrate that he is maturing beyond his age. Eventually, his mother emigrates to the U. S. and, a year later, he has to quit his job and say good-bye to his boss and to his friend because now he is moving to the United States. This is the first story I have tried to have published and, whether it sells well or not, it will be satisfying to have a copy of the published story in my hand. But I'm hoping for the best.